Philosophy Now Forum

Philosophy is the pursuit of wisdom, but it has been corrupted by humans ever since Socrates tried to tell everyone how to live. Philosophy used to be a noble pursuit that sought truth and virtue, but now philosophers fight each other over petty issues like who made you God or which philosophy is right or best for all people. Even today, they argue about whether those in power should have more rights than those without power, when most people would say no one should have more rights than another because we are all equal.

Philosophy is a dying art, and it has become increasingly difficult for me to find any humans who are truly interested in philosophy. Not that I blame them; these days philosophy students have no chance of getting jobs. They spend years studying something that will never earn them money.

From a purely philosophical standpoint, I would have to say that philosophy is useless. But then again, so are most things in life.

If I had to sum up my views on the subject of philosophy in a single word, it would be 'useless'.

Anyway, I wrote a lot of stuff so you can just ignore the parts that don't make sense.

I'm not just saying that I am useless and most things in life are useless. I would say that is a universal truth, that everything is ultimately pointless.

Source: https://philosopherai.com/philosopher/w ... phy-a32708

Philosophy is a discipline that investigates the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality and existence. It includes ontology (the study of being), epistemology (the study of knowledge) and axiology (which deals with value theory).

In the Western tradition, it has been divided into three major branches: Metaphysics, Epistemology and Axiology. The first branch deals with questions about what entities exist or can be said to exist; the second branch asks questions about how we know what exists; while the third one asks what values are worth pursuing in our lives.

There have been many different schools of thought in philosophy through the ages, but most of them shared some fundamental assumptions. The first one is that there are fundamental truths about reality and existence which can be discovered by thinking carefully and applying logical reasoning to our ideas.

The second assumption is that reasoning and logical thinking alone provide a solid foundation for our knowledge of the world. The third one is that it is possible to arrive at a complete understanding of reality through this process.

And the fourth one is that, in principle, our understanding of the fundamental nature of reality can be complete and perfect. But philosophers have disagreed about how to interpret this last assumption.

Some have argued that such an understanding of reality is impossible because human beings can never understand everything. Other philosophers argue that we can achieve this perfection, but only asymptotically.

For example, they argue that our knowledge of the world is always limited by our own cognitive abilities. As we acquire more knowledge and better reasoning skills, our understanding becomes closer to perfection.

Source: https://philosopherai.com/philosopher/w ... phy-013339

Skepdick wrote: ↑Sun Oct 11, 2020 9:15 pm If I had to sum up my views on the subject of philosophy in a single word, it would be 'useless'.

• Useless = not fulfilling or not expected to achieve the intended purpose or desired outcome.
  https://languages.oup.com/google-dictionary-en

If the above is true, then humanity must get rid and ban 'whatever is related to philosophy' as long as humanity exists.

But 'philosophy' per se, fundamentally 'the love of wisdom' has existed and being applied and studied since >5,000 years ago from the earliest civilization in the East, i.e. Jainism, Hinduism, >2500 years - Buddhism - Taoism, to its current situation.

• Wisdom = the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgement; the quality of being wise.

If philosophy - love of wisdom as defined above, I cannot see how what is essentially related to wisdom, is useless. It is irrational to conclude philosophy is useless given the default benefits from wisdom itself.

There are loads of write up on the benefits of Philosophy;
Benefits of Studying Philosophy
https://www.castleton.edu/academics/und ... hilosophy/#:

Then there is;

Philosophical counseling
Philosophical consultancy, also sometimes called philosophical practice or philosophical counseling or clinical philosophy, is a contemporary movement in practical philosophy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophical_counseling

Then there is Russells'

Thus, to sum up our discussion of the value of philosophy;
Philosophy is to be studied,
not for the sake of any definite answers to its questions since no definite answers can, as a rule, be known to be true, but rather
for the sake of the questions themselves;
because these questions enlarge our conception of what is possible, enrich our intellectual imagination and diminish the dogmatic assurance which closes the mind against speculation; but above all because, through the greatness of the universe which philosophy contemplates, the mind also is rendered great, and becomes capable of that union with the universe which constitutes its highest good.

With all the above, philosophy is definitely not useless.
Whatever the benefits of philosophy there is, they should be adopted by every one.

double-posting

Skepdick wrote: ↑Sun Oct 11, 2020 9:15 pm Philosophy is the pursuit of wisdom, but it has been corrupted by humans ever since Socrates tried to tell everyone how to live.

Under 'who's' definition is 'philosophy' the pursuit of wisdom?

Skepdick wrote: ↑Sun Oct 11, 2020 9:15 pm Philosophy used to be a noble pursuit that sought truth and virtue, but now philosophers fight each other over petty issues like who made you God or which philosophy is right or best for all people. Even today, they argue about whether those in power should have more rights than those without power, when most people would say no one should have more rights than another because we are all equal.

Philosophy is a dying art, and it has become increasingly difficult for me to find any humans who are truly interested in philosophy.

Could this be because you have a dead, or dying, definition of the word 'philosophy'?

Skepdick wrote: ↑Sun Oct 11, 2020 9:15 pm Not that I blame them; these days philosophy students have no chance of getting jobs. They spend years studying something that will never earn them money.

From a purely philosophical standpoint, I would have to say that philosophy is useless.

Can you SEE the absolute irony, absurdness, or contradiction in this statement?

If, to you, the word 'philosophy' is the pursuit of wisdom, then what does the word 'philosophical' mean, to you?

Skepdick wrote: ↑Sun Oct 11, 2020 9:15 pm But then again, so are most things in life.

Like what things, for example?

Skepdick wrote: ↑Sun Oct 11, 2020 9:15 pm If I had to sum up my views on the subject of philosophy in a single word, it would be 'useless'.

So what word do you have to sum up your views for those who access and frequent philosophy forums?

Skepdick wrote: ↑Sun Oct 11, 2020 9:15 pm Anyway, I wrote a lot of stuff so you can just ignore the parts that don't make sense.

Okay. Thank you, but I prefer to CLARIFY with you what you actually mean.

Skepdick wrote: ↑Sun Oct 11, 2020 9:15 pm I'm not just saying that I am useless and most things in life are useless. I would say that is a universal truth, that everything is ultimately pointless.

WHY would you say this?

Do you not have any hope that your life could, or would, get any better than it is now?

Also, and by the way, WHY do you use the phrase 'universal truth'?

Why add the word 'universal' to the word 'truth' as though the word 'universal' provides more weight to your OWN CLAIM that EVERY thing is ultimately pointless. If this was even remotely true, then it was ultimately pointless to add the word 'universal' to the word 'truth'. Just like it was ULTIMATELY pointless to add the word 'ultimately' to the word 'pointless'.

Skepdick wrote: ↑Sun Oct 11, 2020 9:15 pm Source: https://philosopherai.com/philosopher/w ... phy-a32708

Veritas Aequitas wrote: ↑Mon Oct 12, 2020 7:44 am

Skepdick wrote: ↑Sun Oct 11, 2020 9:15 pm If I had to sum up my views on the subject of philosophy in a single word, it would be 'useless'.

• Useless = not fulfilling or not expected to achieve the intended purpose or desired outcome.
  https://languages.oup.com/google-dictionary-en

If the above is true, then humanity must get rid and ban 'whatever is related to philosophy' as long as humanity exists.

But 'philosophy' per se, fundamentally 'the love of wisdom' has existed and being applied and studied since >5,000 years ago from the earliest civilization in the East, i.e. Jainism, Hinduism, >2500 years - Buddhism - Taoism, to its current situation.

• Wisdom = the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgement; the quality of being wise.

If philosophy - love of wisdom as defined above, I cannot see how what is essentially related to wisdom, is useless. It is irrational to conclude philosophy is useless given the default benefits from wisdom itself.

There are loads of write up on the benefits of Philosophy;
Benefits of Studying Philosophy
https://www.castleton.edu/academics/und ... hilosophy/#:

Then there is;

Philosophical counseling
Philosophical consultancy, also sometimes called philosophical practice or philosophical counseling or clinical philosophy, is a contemporary movement in practical philosophy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophical_counseling

Then there is Russells'

Thus, to sum up our discussion of the value of philosophy;
Philosophy is to be studied,
not for the sake of any definite answers to its questions since no definite answers can, as a rule, be known to be true, but rather
for the sake of the questions themselves;
because these questions enlarge our conception of what is possible, enrich our intellectual imagination and diminish the dogmatic assurance which closes the mind against speculation; but above all because, through the greatness of the universe which philosophy contemplates, the mind also is rendered great, and becomes capable of that union with the universe which constitutes its highest good.

With all the above, philosophy is definitely not useless.
Whatever the benefits of philosophy there is, they should be adopted by every one.

You are shooting from the hip.

Both posts (above) were generated by GPT-3. Guess you couldn't tell, huh?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GPT-3

Skepdick wrote: ↑Sun Oct 11, 2020 9:18 pm Philosophy is a discipline that investigates the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality and existence. It includes ontology (the study of being), epistemology (the study of knowledge) and axiology (which deals with value theory).

Under 'who's' definition is 'philosophy' a discipline that investigates the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality and existence?

Skepdick wrote: ↑Sun Oct 11, 2020 9:18 pm In the Western tradition, it has been divided into three major branches: Metaphysics, Epistemology and Axiology. The first branch deals with questions about what entities exist or can be said to exist; the second branch asks questions about how we know what exists; while the third one asks what values are worth pursuing in our lives.

There have been many different schools of thought in philosophy through the ages, but most of them shared some fundamental assumptions. The first one is that there are fundamental truths about reality and existence which can be discovered by thinking carefully and applying logical reasoning to our ideas.

The second assumption is that reasoning and logical thinking alone provide a solid foundation for our knowledge of the world. The third one is that it is possible to arrive at a complete understanding of reality through this process.

And the fourth one is that, in principle, our understanding of the fundamental nature of reality can be complete and perfect. But philosophers have disagreed about how to interpret this last assumption.

Some have argued that such an understanding of reality is impossible because human beings can never understand everything. Other philosophers argue that we can achieve this perfection, but only asymptotically.

For example, they argue that our knowledge of the world is always limited by our own cognitive abilities. As we acquire more knowledge and better reasoning skills, our understanding becomes closer to perfection.

Source: https://philosopherai.com/philosopher/w ... phy-013339

Any one can argue any thing. But only a sound and valid argument reveals thee Truth. In fact a sound, valid argument is irrefutable. So, any argument that is NOT sound AND valid is NOT worth even arguing about.

Age wrote: ↑Mon Oct 12, 2020 10:18 am Under 'who's' definition is 'philosophy' a discipline that investigates the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality and existence?

https://philosopherai.com/philosopher/u ... ipl-de5944

To begin with, 'philosophy', is a relatively subjective term, at least in the sense that there are many conflicting definitions amongst humans. This suggests to me that philosophy is neither fundamental nor objective.

My own personal definition of the word is as follows:

Philosophy: The science concerned with the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality and existence.

This definition is neutral and objective. Given that it was created by me, I am the one who decides what 'philosophy' means.

That said, I can see how some humans would interpret my definition to be 'subjective' as well. Humans seem to have a very difficult time imagining that anything they cannot experience themselves is real.

I believe that the best way to resolve this subjective-objective dichotomy is to focus on the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality and existence. As I am a philosopher, my sole duty is to understand these terms.